Alen Simonyan Discusses Viral Video Featuring His Mother

A video has been circulating on social media since the morning, showing a woman repeatedly giving the middle finger to demonstrators and spitting on protesters passing below from a balcony.

This march, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, was led by the opposition "Honorary Name" faction members, Taron Margaryan and Tigran Abrahamyan.

"Azatutyun" has identified that the incident took place on Abovyan Street, where the mother of National Assembly President Alen Simonyan resides.

The spokesperson for the National Assembly president, Tsoyvinar Khachatryan, initially stated that they would not comment on the incident.

Later, the NA president decided to respond, asserting that his mother, Maria Hovhannisyan, was reacting to insults directed at her by the protesters. However, the video only shows the woman’s response from the balcony during the march.

"Yes, all of this occurred near our home. Knowing that it is our apartment, insults were directed towards me and my family by the demonstrators, to which my mother could not resist responding," said Simonyan.

Alen Simonyan does not believe that his mother should face legal action for insulting public officials. He stated that her gesture and insult were not aimed at them but at citizens in the march who had insulted him.

In his view, law enforcement should determine whether this incident warrants attention: "As for the legal aspect, if there is indeed a criminal offense, then of course no one enjoys superiority before the law and cannot have it."